The disclosure relates to the field of illuminated headgear, in particular, headgear that feature high intensity illumination mounted in the headgear providing general purpose illumination by which the user can see in dark places.
There is a wide variety of illuminated headgear and illumination sources that can be mounted on headgear worn by the user. Many of these types of headgear provide light that is meant to be seen by others rather than providing light for the user to see by. Many lighted headgear in this category are of a novelty or decorative type. Others are used to warn other people of the presence of the user. These types of inventions generally used low intensity or widely arrayed types of illumination. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,358 issued to Chen teaches LED lights disposed at the rear and on the sides of a baseball cap, providing a light to be seen by others to alert them to the presence of the wearer; U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,947 issued to T. L. Glatt teaches a safety helmet with LEDs arrayed around the outward lower edge and containing circuitry to flash the LEDs in a sequential manner so as to alert others to the presence of the wearer; U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,961 teaches a novelty hat with lights disposed around the edge of the brim with a sound recording and a battery source in the brim, having circuitry to flash the lights to provide a novelty flickering effect accompanied by sound.
Another body of illuminated headgear helps focus a light source in the direction the user is facing so as to provide illumination for the benefit of the user to see by, e.g., illuminating books being held and read by the user, illuminating objects held by the user, illuminating an area that the user is working or operating in, and so on. In general these inventions are very specialized with emphasis on the availability of a light source, and only approximate the normal appearance and utility of common headgear, or are additions to common headgear. For example U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,495 issued to Ellman et al. teaches a detachable visor cover which slides into place on top of a baseball cap visor, on the top portion of which is mounted a light source for runners or bicyclists to see at night; U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,292 issued to Sabalvaro utilizes a topless hat or visor with a pivot mounted light source that can direct the light forward and above the brim; U.S. Pat. No. 1,187,672 issued to Stiefvater teaches a visor-mounted light bulb and battery source with a light bulb housing which incorporates an eye shield placed at the edge of the brim angled downward, as for reading.
The problem with prior art devices is that they are bulky, stand out visually so as to detract from the general aesthetics of normal headgear, may employ filament light bulbs which wear out and require a means for replacement, or are detachable from the headgear so they could be left behind and not available when needed.
There remains the need for a general purpose illuminating device integral to many kinds of common headgear which have their own intrinsic utility and aesthetic characteristics, to which the illuminating device would add the utility of a hands free light source for the benefit of the user to see by, such illuminating device being light enough in weight and visually inconspicuous enough that it does not significantly alter the headgear's intrinsic utility or aesthetics. In addition, there remains a need for such a headgear mounted illuminating device that is durable and reliable, which would not require replacement of the light source.